User equipment measurements for new radio

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and storage media are described for user equipment (UE) measurements for new radio (NR). Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to: U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/548,270 filed Aug. 21, 2017; and U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/554,380 filed Sep. 5, 2017, the contentsof which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

Various embodiments of the present application generally relate to thefield of wireless communications, and in particular, to user equipment(UE) measurements for new radio (NR).

BACKGROUND

In New Radio (NR) systems, the synchronization sequence blocks (SSBs) orreference signals may be located at the different frequencies from thecenter frequency of a cell. Additionally, a user equipment (UE)operation bandwidth may be not able to cover the serving cell SS blockfrequency, or the target cell SS block frequency. Accordingly, UEbehaviors and measurement configuration may need modification for properoperation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate examples of operation flow/algorithmicstructures in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an architecture of a system of a network in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts an example of components of a device in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts an example of interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a control plane protocol stack inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user plane protocol stack in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someembodiments, of a system to support network function virtualization(NFV).

FIG. 12 depicts a block diagram illustrating components, according tosome embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments discussed herein may relate to providing measurementinformation to a network by a UE in conjunction with radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurements for new radio (NR). Embodiments discussedherein may also relate to identifying performance measurement groups,which may have different resources (e.g., gap numbers) for measurement.Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc.,in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofthe claimed invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the invention claimed may be practiced in other examples thatdepart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptionsof well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not toobscure the description of the present invention with unnecessarydetail.

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described usingterms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that alternate embodiments maybe practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes ofexplanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrativeembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatalternate embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Inother instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in ordernot to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Further, various operations will be described as multiple discreteoperations, in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description shouldnot be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in theorder of presentation.

The phrase “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the likemay refer to the same, or different, embodiments. The terms“comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless thecontext dictates otherwise. The phrase “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or(A and B). The phrases “A/B” and “A or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B),similar to the phrase “A and/or B.” For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “at least one of A and B” means (A), (B), or (Aand B). The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” “inembodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and/or “in various embodiments,”which may each refer to one or more of the same or differentembodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,”and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, are synonymous.

Examples of embodiments may be described as a process depicted as aflowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, ora block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as asequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel,concurrently, or simultaneously. In addition, the order of theoperations may be re-arranged. A process may be terminated when itsoperations are completed, but may also have additional steps notincluded in the figure(s). A process may correspond to a method, afunction, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, and the like. When aprocess corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to areturn of the function to the calling function and/or the main function.

Examples of embodiments may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program code, softwaremodules, and/or functional processes, being executed by one or more ofthe aforementioned circuitry. The program code, software modules, and/orfunctional processes may include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks orimplement particular data types. The program code, software modules,and/or functional processes discussed herein may be implemented usingexisting hardware in existing communication networks. For example,program code, software modules, and/or functional processes discussedherein may be implemented using existing hardware at existing networkelements or control nodes.

Reference-signal-based Radio Resource Management (RRM) Measurements

In some cases, UE behaviors and measurement configuration may needmodification for proper operation. For instance, if the UE operationbandwidth is not able to cover the serving cell SS block frequency, theUE may need gap/tuning to perform a serving cell measurement.Intra-frequency and inter-frequency definitions may also need to bespecified. In such cases, the frequency layers may need to be clarifiedor re-grouped in the measurement objects and configurations.

In some embodiments, the definitions of intra-frequency andinter-frequency measurements for New Radio (NR) systems may include thefollowing:

-   -   Synchronization signal block (SSB) based Radio Resource        Management (RRM) Measurements:        -   SSB-based Intra-frequency Measurement: A measurement may be            defined as a SSB-based intra-frequency measurement provided            the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the            center frequency of the SSB of the neighbour cell are the            same, and the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs are also            the same.        -   SSB-based Inter-frequency Measurement: A measurement may be            defined as a SSB-based inter-frequency measurement provided            the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the            center frequency of the SSB of the neighbour cell are            different, or the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs are            different.        -   In some embodiments, the above SSB-based measurement            definitions may assume that the same cell transmits only one            SSB.    -   Channel State Information (CSI)-Reference Signal (RS) based RRM        Measurements:        -   CSI-RS based Intra-frequency Measurement: A measurement is            defined as a CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement            provided the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the            neighbor cell configured for measurement is within the            bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the serving cell            configured for measurement, and the subcarrier spacing of            the two CSI-RS resources are the same.        -   CSI-RS based Inter-frequency Measurement: A measurement is            defined as a CSI-RS based inter-frequency measurement            provided the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the            neighbour cell configured for measurement is not within the            bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the serving cell            configured for measurement, or the subcarrier spacing of the            two CSI-RS resources are different.

Three categories of measurement may include the following:Intra-frequency measurement without radiofrequency (RF) retuning;Intra-frequency measurement with RF retuning; and Inter-frequencymeasurement with RF retuning. Considering different reference signals,then the categories can be extended to: XRS based Intra-frequencymeasurement without RF retuning; XRS based Intra-frequency measurementwith RF retuning; and XRS based Inter-frequency measurement with RFretuning. In this context, The term “XRS” herein may refer to “Xreference signal,” where the reference signal may include SSB, CSI-RS,or some other reference signal.

In addition to the categories above, in mmWave the user equipment (UE)reception (Rx) beamforming switching may also cause interruption to themeasurement. For instance, if a UE implements one or more specific Rxbeams for serving cell and for target cell reference signal measurement,a UE has to use different Rx beams, and therefore, the Rx beam switchingmay cause interruption or may need gap during the measurement. In somecases, the reception beam switching may be included in the categoriesabove (e.g., an indication of whether the UE requires a measurement gapdue to use of reception beam switching). In some embodiments, thenetwork (e.g., a base station, one or more core network elements, etc.)may be informed (e.g., by a message transmitted by the UE) as to whichcategory the UE belongs, particularly in cases where the network is notaware of the Rx beamforming information at the UE.

In various embodiments, if a UE is using Rx beamforming for XRSmeasurements that may possibly cause Rx beam switching, then suchmeasurements may be categorized as an XRS-based inter-frequencymeasurement, an XRS-based inter-frequency measurement with RF retuning,or an XRS-based intra-frequency measurement with RF retuning.

In various embodiments, a UE may indicate the measurement categoryinformation to network by signaling (e.g., via radio resource control(RRC) signaling/message(s), etc.), and the measurement category mayinclude, for example, the following categories: (1) XRS basedIntra-frequency measurement without RF retuning; (2) XRS basedIntra-frequency measurement with RF retuning; and/or (3) XRS basedInter-frequency measurement with RF retuning.

In various embodiments, the UE may indicate the RF retuning informationto the network by signaling (e.g., via RRC signaling/message(s), etc.),and the RF tuning category may include, for example, the followingcategories: (1) RF retuning is needed, or (2) RF retuning is not needed.

In various embodiments, the UE may indicate the necessity of measurementgap for measurement to network by signaling (e.g., via RRCsignaling/message(s), etc.), and the necessity of measurement gapcategory here may include, for example, the following categories: (1)measurement gap is needed, or (2) measurement gap is not needed.

In various embodiments, the UE may indicate the Rx beamforminginformation for measurement to the network by signaling (e.g., via RRCsignaling/message(s), etc.), and the Rx beamforming information here mayinclude, for example, the following categories: (1) whether Rxbeamforming is used; (2) whether Rx beam switching is used; (3) numberof Rx beamforming patterns; (4) number of Rx antenna panels for Rxbeamforming; and/or (5) number of measurement cycles foriterating/utilizing all the possible Rx beam patterns.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the various parameters, etc.,indicated to the network via signaling may be indicated in one ormultiple higher layer messages, and the parameters may be indicated innew or existing fields and/or information elements (IEs) in suchmessages. The following section provides six enumerated examples ofembodiments according to various aspects of the disclosure.

Embodiment 1

If a UE is using Rx beamforming for an XRS measurement that may cause Rxbeam switching, then this measurement is categorized into XRS basedinter-frequency measurement or XRS based inter-frequency measurementwith RF retuning. For instance, the new definition may be revised asshown below for an mmWave example.

-   -   SS block (SSB) based RRM Measurements:        -   SSB based Intra-frequency Measurement: A measurement is            defined as a SSB based intra-frequency measurement provided:            the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the            center frequency of the SSB of the neighbor cell are the            same; the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs are the same;            and the Rx beamforming pattern of the two SSBs are the same.        -   SSB based Inter-frequency Measurement: A measurement is            defined as a SSB based inter-frequency measurement provided:            the center frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the            center frequency of the SSB of the neighbor cell are            different; the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs are            different; or the Rx beamforming pattern of the two SSBs are            different.    -   CSI-RS based RRM Measurements:        -   CSI-RS based Intra-frequency Measurement: A measurement is            defined as a CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement            provided: the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the            neighbor cell configured for measurement is within the            bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the serving cell            configured for measurement; the subcarrier spacing of the            two CSI-RS resources are the same; and the Rx beamforming            pattern of the two CSI-RS resources are the same.        -   CSI-RS based Inter-frequency Measurement: A measurement is            defined as a CSI-RS based inter-frequency measurement            provided: the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the            neighbor cell configured for measurement is not within the            bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the serving cell            configured for measurement; the subcarrier spacing of the            two CSI-RS resources are different; or the Rx beamforming            pattern for the two CSI-RS resources are different.

Embodiment 2

If a UE is using Rx beamforming for an XRS measurement which may involveRx beam switching, then this measurement is categorized into XRS basedintra-frequency measurement with RF retuning. If the Rx beam switchingis needed at the UE side for an XRS measurement, then it may need ameasurement gap for the measurement. However in this case the XRS fromthe serving cell and from target cell have the same center frequency,and therefore, this case is categorized into XRS based intra-frequencymeasurement with RF retuning.

Embodiment 3

A UE may indicate the measurement category information to network bysignaling (e.g., via RRC), and the measurement category here may includethe following categories: XRS based Intra-frequency measurement withoutRF retuning; XRS based Intra-frequency measurement with RF retuning; orXRS based Inter-frequency measurement with RF retuning.

The Rx beamforming is a UE implementation behavior, and so the networkmay not be aware if the UE is using Rx beamforming or not. In suchcases, the UE may need to indicate to the network the UE's measurementcategory to let network know what the UE's behavior will be, allowingthe network to decide if a measurement gap is needed for the UE.

Embodiment 4

A UE may indicate the RF retuning information to network by signaling(e.g., via RRC), and the RF tuning category may include: RF retuning isneeded, or RF retuning is not needed.

The Rx beamforming is a UE implementation behavior, and so the networkmay not be aware if the UE is using Rx beamforming or not. In suchcases, the UE may need to indicate to the network the UE's measurementcategory to let network know what the UE's behavior will be, allowingthe network to decide if a measurement gap is needed for the UE,particularly since the RF retuning may be related to the measurementgap.

Embodiment 5

A UE may indicate the necessity of a measurement gap to perform ameasurement to a network by signaling (e.g., via RRC). The necessity ofa measurement gap category may include: a measurement gap is needed, ormeasurement gap is not needed.

The Rx beamforming is a UE implementation behavior, and so the networkmay not be aware if the UE is using Rx beamforming or not. In suchcases, the UE may need to indicate to the network the UE's measurementcategory to let network know what the UE's behavior will be, allowingthe network to decide if a measurement gap is needed for the UE.

Embodiment 6

UE may indicate the Rx beamforming information for measurement tonetwork by signaling (e.g., via RRC), and the Rx beamforming informationhere may include: whether Rx beamforming is used, whether Rx beamswitching is used, a number of Rx beamforming patterns, a number of Rxantenna panels for Rx beamforming, and/or a number of measurement cyclesfor iterating/utilizing all the possible Rx beam patterns.

The Rx beamforming is a UE implementation behavior, and so the networkmay not be aware if the UE is using Rx beamforming or not. In suchcases, the UE may need to indicate to the network the UE's measurementcategory to let network know what the UE's behavior will be, allowingthe network to decide if a measurement gap is needed for the UE.

In some embodiments, the number of cycles for iterating/utilizing allthe possible Rx beam patterns indicates that if UE can use only one Rxbeam pattern at one time, then the UE may need n measurement occasionsto try all the n Rx beam patterns. The total measurement time/delay maybe expressed as: n*single_measurement_occasion_delay (where n is anatural number).

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s),chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, ofFIGS. 5-12 herein may be configured to perform or execute one or moreoperation flow/algorithmic structures, processes, techniques, or methodsas described herein, or portions thereof, including the operationflow/algorithmic structures illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

One example of an operation flow/algorithmic structure is depicted inFIG. 1, which may be performed by a UE in accordance with someembodiments. In this example, operation flow/algorithmic structure 100may include, at 105, generating a radio resource control (RRC) messagethat includes reception beamforming information. In some embodiments,the reception beamforming information may include a number of receptionbeamforming patterns for performing a radio resource management (RRM)measurement.

In some embodiments, the reception beamforming information furtherincludes an indicator of whether reception beamforming is used by theUE, an indicator of whether reception beam switching is used by the UE,a number of reception antenna panels for reception beamforming, or anumber of cycles for reception beam pattern iteration.

Operation flow/algorithmic structure 400 may further include, at 410,transmitting or causing to transmit the RRC message to a next-generationnodeB (gNB). In some embodiments, the RRC message further includesmeasurement gap information, the measurement gap information includingan indicator that a measurement gap is needed or an indicator that ameasurement gap is not needed.

Operation flow/algorithmic structure 400 may further include, at 415,performing a radio resource management (RRM) measurement based on thereception beamforming information. In some embodiments, the RRMmeasurement is based on a reference signal. In some embodiments, thereference signal may be a synchronization signal block (SSB) or achannel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). In someembodiments, the RRM measurement is an intra-frequency measurementwithout radio frequency (RF) retuning, an intra-frequency measurementwith RF retuning, or an inter-frequency measurement with RF retuning.

Another example of an operation flow/algorithmic structure is depictedin FIG. 2, which may be performed by a gNB in accordance with someembodiments. In this example, operation flow/algorithmic structure 200may include, at 205, receiving or causing to receive from a userequipment (UE), a radio resource control (RRC) message comprisingreception beamforming information associated with a radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurement.

Operation flow/algorithmic structure 200 may further include, at 210,Determining, or causing to determine, based on the reception beamforminginformation, measurement gap information for the UE for the RRMmeasurement.

Frequency Group Priorities for New Radio (NR)

In New Radio (NR) systems, the SS (synchronization sequence) blocks orreference signals may be located at a different frequency from thecenter frequency of a cell. Additionally, the user equipment (UE)operation bandwidth may be not able to cover the serving cell SS blockfrequency or the target cell SS block frequency. Accordingly, thebehavior of the UE and measurement configuration may need to be adjustedfor proper operation.

For instance, if the UE operation bandwidth is not able to cover theserving cell SS block frequency, the UE may need gap/tuning to perform aserving cell measurement. In some cases, intra-frequency andinter-frequency definitions may be not easy to be specified, thereforethe frequency layers may need to be further clarified or re-grouped inthe measurement objects and configurations.

Typically, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems include normal performanceand reduced performance measurement groups, which may have differentresource(s) (e.g., gap number) for measurement. NR systems may need toadd more clarifications to accommodate new UE behaviors.

In one embodiment according to the present disclosure, the measurementconfigurations or objects may include three performance groups: a highperformance group, a normal performance group, and a reduced performancegroup. In this example, the high performance group may be for servingcell related measurements and have the most measurement resource (e.g.,gap numbers) of the three groups. The normal performance group has fewermeasurement resources than the high performance group but moremeasurement resources than reduced performance group, while the reducedperformance group has the least measurement resources of the threegroups. The groups may be interpreted as either groups of frequencylayers or groups of cells.

In another embodiment, the measurement configurations or objects mayinclude three groups: a serving cell group, a normal performance group,and a reduced performance group. In this example, the serving cellmeasurements group has the most measurement resources (e.g., gapnumbers), while the normal performance group has fewer measurementresources than the serving cell measurement group but more measurementresources than the reduced performance group. The reduced performancegroup has the lease measurement resources. These groups may beinterpreted as either groups of frequency layers or groups of cells.

The measurement performance for different carriers may be configured byhigher layers to be high, normal, or reduced performance. A measurementscaling factor, defining the relaxation to be applied to therequirements for carriers measured with reduced measurement performance,may be signaled by higher layers. The scaling factor (Kh, Kn, Kr) may beused to derive different measurement periods. For example, Kh is thescaling factor for the high performance group and may be set as thesmallest value among Kh, Kn, Kr, indicating the high performance grouprequires the UE to complete the measurement within the shortest periodof time relative to the normal performance group or the reducedperformance group. In some embodiments, Kn and Kr may be defined asdescribed in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TechnicalSpecification (TS) 36.133.

Different performance groups may have different proportions of gapresources. For example, the high performance group may have the largestproportion of gap resources from the serving cell, while the normalperformance group may have a smaller proportion of gap resource thanhigh performance group, but a larger proportion of gap resources thanreduced performance group. The reduced performance group may have thesmallest proportion of gap resources from serving cell of the threegroups.

In some embodiments, the high performance group may indicate thehighest/first priority of measurements, which require the UE to completethe measurement as soon as possible. The normal performance group mayindicate an intermediate/second priority of measurements, which requireUE to complete the measurement after the high performance group. Thereduced performance group may indicate a lowest/third priority ofmeasurements.

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s),chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, ofFIGS. 5-12 herein may be configured to perform or execute one or moreoperation flow/algorithmic structures, processes, techniques, or methodsas described herein, or portions thereof, including the operationflow/algorithmic structures illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

One example of an operation flow/algorithmic structure is depicted inFIG. 3, which may be performed by a UE in accordance with someembodiments. In this example, operation flow/algorithmic structure 300may include, at 305, identifying a set of new radio (NR) measurementresources. In some embodiments, the set of NR measurement resourcesincludes one or more measurement gaps.

Operation flow/algorithmic structure 300 may further include, at 310,determining a plurality of carrier groups among which to allocate the NRmeasurement resources. In some embodiments the plurality of carriergroups includes a high-performance group containing a first portion ofthe NR measurement resources; a normal performance group containing asecond portion of the NR measurement resources; and a reducedperformance group containing a third portion of the NR measurementresources, wherein the normal performance group contains fewermeasurement resources than the high-performance group, and the reducedperformance group contains fewer NR measurement resources than thenormal performance group.

In some embodiments, the high-performance group is for servingcell-related measurements by the UE. In some embodiments, the pluralityof carrier groups are associated with a group of frequency layers or agroup of cells. In some embodiments, determining the plurality ofcarrier groups includes determining, for each respective carrier group,a respective measurement scaling factor associated with a respectivetime period to complete a measurement. In some embodiments, the timeperiod to complete a measurement for the normal performance group islonger than the time period to complete a measurement for thehigh-performance group, and wherein the time period to complete ameasurement for the reduced performance group is longer than the timeperiod to complete a measurement for the normal performance group

Operation flow/algorithmic structure 300 may further include, at 315,generating a measurement configuration message for a user equipment (UE)based on the determined plurality of carrier groups.

Operation flow/algorithmic structure 300 may further include, at 320,transmitting or causing to transmit the measurement configurationmessage to the UE.

Another example of an operation flow/algorithmic structure is depictedin FIG. 4, which may be performed by a gNB in accordance with someembodiments. In this example, operation flow/algorithmic structure 400may include, at 405, receiving or causing to receive a measurementconfiguration message. In some embodiments, the measurementconfiguration message includes information regarding respectivemeasurement scaling factor associated with a respective time period tocomplete a measurement.

Operation flow/algorithmic structure 400 may further include, at 410,performing or causing to perform a measurement based on the measurementconfiguration message.

FIG. 5 illustrates an architecture of a system 500 of a network inaccordance with some embodiments. The system 500 is shown to include auser equipment (UE) 501 and a UE 502. The UEs 501 and 502 areillustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computingdevices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may alsocomprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as PersonalData Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers,wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wirelesscommunications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 501 and 502 can comprise an Internetof Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designedfor low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. AnIoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) ormachine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC serveror device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-BasedService (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensornetworks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be amachine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describesinterconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiableembedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), withshort-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications(e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate theconnections of the IoT network.

The UEs 501 and 502 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicativelycouple, with a radio access network (RAN) 510—the RAN 510 may be, forexample, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), orsome other type of RAN. The UEs 501 and 502 utilize connections 503 and504, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communicationsinterface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example,the connections 503 and 504 are illustrated as an air interface toenable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellularcommunications protocols, such as a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA)network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular(POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation(5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 501 and 502 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 505. The ProSe interface 505may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising oneor more logical channels, including but not limited to a PhysicalSidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel(PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a PhysicalSidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 502 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 506via connection 507. The connection 507 can comprise a local wirelessconnection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11protocol, wherein the AP 506 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®)router. In this example, the AP 506 is shown to be connected to theInternet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system(described in further detail below).

The RAN 510 can include one or more access nodes that enable theconnections 503 and 504. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to asbase stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next GenerationNodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations(e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providingcoverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 510 mayinclude one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RANnode 511, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells orpicocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power(LP) RAN node 512.

Any of the RAN nodes 511 and 512 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 501 and 502.In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 511 and 512 can fulfillvarious logical functions for the RAN 510 including, but not limited to,radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearermanagement, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management anddata packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 501 and 502 can beconfigured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any ofthe RAN nodes 511 and 512 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limitedto, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SingleCarrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communicationtechnique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications),although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 511 and 512 to the UEs 501 and502, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The gridcan be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resourceblocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels toresource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection ofresource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent thesmallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. Thereare several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed usingsuch resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data andhigher-layer signaling to the UEs 501 and 502. The physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport formatand resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among otherthings. It may also inform the UEs 501 and 502 about the transportformat, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlinkscheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to theUE 502 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 511 and512 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs501 and 502. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent onthe PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 501 and 502.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the controlinformation. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCHcomplex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, whichmay then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching.Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, whereeach CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can betransmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of thedownlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There canbe four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with differentnumbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physicaldownlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for controlinformation transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one ormore enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, eachECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may haveother numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 510 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network(CN) 520—via an S1 interface 513. In embodiments, the CN 520 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network,or some other type of CN. In this embodiment, the S1 interface 513 issplit into two parts: the S 1-U interface 514, which carries trafficdata between the RAN nodes 511 and 512 and the serving gateway (S-GW)522, and the S1-mobility management entity (MIME) interface 515, whichis a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 511 and 512 and MMEs 521.

In this embodiment, the CN 520 comprises the MMEs 521, the S-GW 522, thePacket Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 523, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 524. The MMEs 521 may be similar in function to the controlplane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) SupportNodes (SGSN). The MMEs 521 may manage mobility aspects in access such asgateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 524 maycomprise a database for network users, including subscription-relatedinformation to support the network entities' handling of communicationsessions. The CN 520 may comprise one or several HSSs 524, depending onthe number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, onthe organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 524 canprovide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization,naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 522 may terminate the S1 interface 513 towards the RAN 510, androutes data packets between the RAN 510 and the CN 520. In addition, theS-GW 522 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN nodehandovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policyenforcement.

The P-GW 523 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 523may route data packets between the EPC network and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 530 (alternativelyreferred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP)interface 525. Generally, the application server 530 may be an elementoffering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network(e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). Inthis embodiment, the P-GW 523 is shown to be communicatively coupled toan application server 530 via an IP communications interface 525. Theapplication server 530 can also be configured to support one or morecommunication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP)sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networkingservices, etc.) for the UEs 501 and 502 via the CN 520.

The P-GW 523 may further be a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 526 isthe policy and charging control element of the CN 520. In a non-roamingscenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land MobileNetwork (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol ConnectivityAccess Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with localbreakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE'sIP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF(V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF526 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 530 via theP-GW 523. The application server 530 may signal the PCRF 526 to indicatea new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS)and charging parameters. The PCRF 526 may provision this rule into aPolicy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with theappropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier(QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by theapplication server 530.

FIG. 6 illustrates example components of a device 600 in accordance withsome embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 600 may includeapplication circuitry 602, baseband circuitry 604, Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry 606, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 608, one or moreantennas 610, and power management circuitry (PMC) 612 coupled togetherat least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 600 may beincluded in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 600 mayinclude fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize applicationcircuitry 602, and instead include a processor/controller to process IPdata received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 600 mayinclude additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage,display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In otherembodiments, the components described below may be included in more thanone device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in morethan one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The application circuitry 602 may include one or more applicationprocessors. For example, the application circuitry 602 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core ormulti-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupledwith or may include memory/storage and may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applicationsor operating systems to run on the device 600. In some embodiments,processors of application circuitry 602 may process IP data packetsreceived from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 604 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Thebaseband circuitry 604 may include one or more baseband processors orcontrol logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signalpath of the RF circuitry 606 and to generate baseband signals for atransmit signal path of the RF circuitry 606. Baseband processingcircuitry 604 may interface with the application circuitry 602 forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the RF circuitry 606. For example, in some embodiments,the baseband circuitry 604 may include a third generation (3G) basebandprocessor 604A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 604B, afifth generation (5G) baseband processor 604C, or other basebandprocessor(s) 604D for other existing generations, generations indevelopment or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation(2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 604 (e.g.,one or more of baseband processors 604A-D) may handle various radiocontrol functions that enable communication with one or more radionetworks via the RF circuitry 606. In other embodiments, some or all ofthe functionality of baseband processors 604A-D may be included inmodules stored in the memory 604G and executed via a Central ProcessingUnit (CPU) 604E. The radio control functions may include, but are notlimited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 604 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution,turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoderfunctionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation andencoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and mayinclude other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may include one or moreaudio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 604F. The audio DSP(s) 604F maybe include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellationand may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in asingle chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board insome embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituentcomponents of the baseband circuitry 604 and the application circuitry602 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on achip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may supportcommunication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN).Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 604 is configured to supportradio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referredto as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 606 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wirelessnetwork. RF circuitry 606 may include a receive signal path which mayinclude circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 608 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry604. RF circuitry 606 may also include a transmit signal path which mayinclude circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by thebaseband circuitry 604 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 608 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 606 mayinclude mixer circuitry 606 a, amplifier circuitry 606 b and filtercircuitry 606 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 606 may include filter circuitry 606 c and mixer circuitry 606a. RF circuitry 606 may also include synthesizer circuitry 606 d forsynthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606 a of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 608 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 606 d. Theamplifier circuitry 606 b may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 606 c may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 604 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 606 a of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 606 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 608. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 604 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 606 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry606 a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and maybe arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signal path may be arrangedfor direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 606 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 606 a of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 606 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry604 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 606.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 606 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606 a of the RFcircuitry 606 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. Insome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 604 orthe applications processor 602 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplications processor 602.

Synthesizer circuitry 606 d of the RF circuitry 606 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 606 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 608 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or moreantennas 610, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 606 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 608 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 606 for transmission by one ormore of the one or more antennas 610. In various embodiments, theamplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be donesolely in the RF circuitry 606, solely in the FEM 608, or in both the RFcircuitry 606 and the FEM 608.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 608 may include a TX/RX switch toswitch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 608 may include a lownoise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide theamplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry606). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 608 may include apower amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RFcircuitry 606), and one or more filters to generate RF signals forsubsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or moreantennas 610).

In some embodiments, the PMC 612 may manage power provided to thebaseband circuitry 604. In particular, the PMC 612 may controlpower-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DCconversion. The PMC 612 may often be included when the device 600 iscapable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE. The PMC 612 may increase the power conversionefficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heatdissipation characteristics.

FIG. 6 shows the PMC 612 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 604.However, in other embodiments, the PMC 612 may be additionally oralternatively coupled with, and perform similar power managementoperations for, other components such as, but not limited to,application circuitry 602, RF circuitry 606, or FEM 608.

In some embodiments, the PMC 612 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the device 600. For example, if thedevice 600 is in an RRC Connected state, where it is still connected tothe RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may entera state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period ofinactivity. During this state, the device 600 may power down for briefintervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time,then the device 600 may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where itdisconnects from the network and does not perform operations such aschannel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 600 goes into a verylow power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakesup to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 600may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable tothe network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging fromseconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totallyunreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sentduring this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay isacceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 602 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 604 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 604, alone or in combination, may be used to execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 602 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from theselayers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmissioncommunication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers).As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control(RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein,Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described infurther detail below.

FIG. 7 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the basebandcircuitry 604 of FIG. 6 may comprise processors 604A-604E and a memory604G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 604A-604E mayinclude a memory interface, 704A-704E, respectively, to send/receivedata to/from the memory 604G.

The baseband circuitry 604 may further include one or more interfaces tocommunicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memoryinterface 712 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memoryexternal to the baseband circuitry 604), an application circuitryinterface 714 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from theapplication circuitry 602 of FIG. 6), an RF circuitry interface 716(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 606 ofFIG. 6), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 718 (e.g., aninterface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC)components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi®components, and other communication components), and a power managementinterface 720 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or controlsignals to/from the PMC 612.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a control plane protocol stack inaccordance with some embodiments. In this embodiment, a control plane800 is shown as a communications protocol stack between the UE 501 (oralternatively, the UE 502), the RAN node 511 (or alternatively, the RANnode 512), and the MME 521.

The PHY layer 801 may transmit or receive information used by the MAClayer 802 over one or more air interfaces. The PHY layer 801 may furtherperform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), powercontrol, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handoverpurposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, such as the RRClayer 805. The PHY layer 801 may still further perform error detectionon the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation ofphysical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physicalchannels, and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna processing.

The MAC layer 802 may perform mapping between logical channels andtransport channels, multiplexing of MAC service data units (SDUs) fromone or more logical channels onto transport blocks (TB) to be deliveredto PHY via transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or morelogical channels from transport blocks (TB) delivered from the PHY viatransport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, schedulinginformation reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARD), and logical channel prioritization.

The RLC layer 803 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation,including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), andAcknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC layer 803 may execute transfer of upperlayer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automaticrepeat request (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation,segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers.The RLC layer 803 may also execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs forAM data transfers, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers,detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs forUM and AM data transfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers,and perform RLC re-establishment.

The PDCP layer 804 may execute header compression and decompression ofIP data, maintain PDCP Sequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequencedelivery of upper layer PDUs at re-establishment of lower layers,eliminate duplicates of lower layer SDUs at re-establishment of lowerlayers for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, cipher and decipher controlplane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification ofcontrol plane data, control timer-based discard of data, and performsecurity operations (e.g., ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection,integrity verification, etc.).

The main services and functions of the RRC layer 805 may includebroadcast of system information (e.g., included in Master InformationBlocks (MIBs) or System Information Blocks (SIBs) related to thenon-access stratum (NAS)), broadcast of system information related tothe access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and releaseof an RRC connection between the UE and E-UTRAN (e.g., RRC connectionpaging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, andRRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance andrelease of point to point Radio Bearers, security functions includingkey management, inter radio access technology (RAT) mobility, andmeasurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. Said MIBs andSIBs may comprise one or more information elements (IEs), which may eachcomprise individual data fields or data structures.

The UE 501 and the RAN node 511 may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., anLTE-Uu interface) to exchange control plane data via a protocol stackcomprising the PHY layer 801, the MAC layer 802, the RLC layer 803, thePDCP layer 804, and the RRC layer 805.

The non-access stratum (NAS) protocols 806 form the highest stratum ofthe control plane between the UE 501 and the MME 521. The NAS protocols806 support the mobility of the UE 501 and the session managementprocedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE 501and the P-GW 523.

The S1 Application Protocol (S1-AP) layer 815 may support the functionsof the S1 interface and comprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An EP is aunit of interaction between the RAN node 511 and the CN 520. The S1-APlayer services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services andnon-UE-associated services. These services perform functions including,but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UEcapability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RANInformation Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) layer (alternativelyreferred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 814 may ensure reliable delivery ofsignaling messages between the RAN node 511 and the MME 521 based, inpart, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP layer 813. The L2 layer812 and the L1 layer 811 may refer to communication links (e.g., wiredor wireless) used by the RAN node and the MME to exchange information.

The RAN node 511 and the MME 521 may utilize an S1-MME interface toexchange control plane data via a protocol stack comprising the L1 layer811, the L2 layer 812, the IP layer 813, the SCTP layer 814, and theS1-AP layer 815.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user plane protocol stack in accordancewith some embodiments. In this embodiment, a user plane 900 is shown asa communications protocol stack between the UE 501 (or alternatively,the UE 502), the RAN node 511 (or alternatively, the RAN node 512), theS-GW 522, and the P-GW 523. The user plane 900 may utilize at least someof the same protocol layers as the control plane 800. For example, theUE 501 and the RAN node 511 may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uuinterface) to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprisingthe PHY layer 801, the MAC layer 802, the RLC layer 803, the PDCP layer804.

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol for the userplane (GTP-U) layer 904 may be used for carrying user data within theGPRS core network and between the radio access network and the corenetwork. The user data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6,or PPP formats, for example. The UDP and IP security (UDP/IP) layer 913may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressingdifferent functions at the source and destination, and encryption andauthentication on the selected data flows. The RAN node 511 and the S-GW522 may utilize an S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via aprotocol stack comprising the L1 layer 811, the L2 layer 812, the UDP/IPlayer 913, and the GTP-U layer 904. The S-GW 522 and the P-GW 523 mayutilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange user plane data via a protocolstack comprising the L1 layer 811, the L2 layer 812, the UDP/IP layer913, and the GTP-U layer 904. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 8,NAS protocols support the mobility of the UE 501 and the sessionmanagement procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity betweenthe UE 501 and the P-GW 523.

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance with someembodiments. The components of the CN 520 may be implemented in onephysical node or separate physical nodes including components to readand execute instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readablemedium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In someembodiments, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is utilized tovirtualize any or all of the above described network node functions viaexecutable instructions stored in one or more computer readable storagemediums (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation ofthe CN 520 may be referred to as a network slice 1001. A logicalinstantiation of a portion of the CN 520 may be referred to as a networksub-slice 1002 (e.g., the network sub-slice 1002 is shown to include thePGW 523 and the PCRF 526).

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore network functions, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware,onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standardserver hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFVsystems can be used to execute virtual or reconfigurable implementationsof one or more EPC components/functions.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, of a system 1100 to support NFV. The system 1100 isillustrated as including a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM)1102, a network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI) 1104, aVNF manager (VNFM) 1106, virtualized network functions (VNFs) 1108, anelement manager (EM) 1110, an NFV Orchestrator (NFVO) 1112, and anetwork manager (NM) 1114.

The VIM 1102 manages the resources of the NFVI 1104. The NFVI 1104 caninclude physical or virtual resources and applications (includinghypervisors) used to execute the system 1100. The VIM 1102 may managethe life cycle of virtual resources with the NFVI 1104 (e.g., creation,maintenance, and tear down of virtual machines (VMs) associated with oneor more physical resources), track VM instances, track performance,fault and security of VM instances and associated physical resources,and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to othermanagement systems.

The VNFM 1106 may manage the VNFs 1108. The VNFs 1108 may be used toexecute EPC components/functions. The VNFM 1106 may manage the lifecycle of the VNFs 1108 and track performance, fault and security of thevirtual aspects of VNFs 1108. The EM 1110 may track the performance,fault and security of the functional aspects of VNFs 1108. The trackingdata from the VNFM 1106 and the EM 1110 may comprise, for example,performance measurement (PM) data used by the VIM 1102 or the NFVI 1104.Both the VNFM 1106 and the EM 1110 can scale up/down the quantity ofVNFs of the system 1100.

The NFVO 1112 may coordinate, authorize, release and engage resources ofthe NFVI 1104 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., toexecute an EPC function, component, or slice). The NM 1114 may provide apackage of end-user functions with the responsibility for the managementof a network, which may include network elements with VNFs,non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of the VNFs mayoccur via the EM 1110).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 12 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 1200 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 1210, one or more memory/storage devices1220, and one or more communication resources 1230, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 1240. For embodiments where nodevirtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1202 may beexecuted to provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1200.

The processors 1210 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit(RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) mayinclude, for example, a processor 1212 and a processor 1214.

The memory/storage devices 1220 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1220 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random-accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1230 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 1204 or one or more databases 1206 via anetwork 1208. For example, the communication resources 1230 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components,Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components,and other communication components.

Instructions 1250 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 1210 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 1250 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 1210 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1220, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 1250 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1200 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 1204 or the databases 1206.Accordingly, the memory of processors 1210, the memory/storage devices1220, the peripheral devices 1204, and the databases 1206 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

In various embodiments, the devices/components of FIGS. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,11, 12, and particularly the baseband circuitry of FIG. 7, may be usedfor: generating a radio resource control (RRC) message that includesreception beamforming information; transmitting or causing to transmitthe RRC message to a next-generation nodeB (gNB); and performing a radioresource management (RRM) measurement based on the reception beamforminginformation. The devices/components of FIGS. 5-12 may also be used topractice, in whole or in part, any of the operation flow/algorithmicstructures depicted in FIGS. 1-4.

EXAMPLES

Some non-limiting examples are provided below.

Example 1 includes one or more computer-readable media storinginstructions, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause auser equipment (UE) to: generate a radio resource control (RRC) messagethat includes reception beamforming information, the receptionbeamforming information including a number of reception beamformingpatterns for performing a radio resource management (RRM) measurement;and transmit or cause to transmit the RRC message to a next-generationnodeB (gNB).

Example 2 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 1or some other example herein, wherein the reception beamforminginformation further includes an indicator of whether receptionbeamforming is used by the UE, an indicator of whether reception beamswitching is used by the UE, a number of reception antenna panels forreception beamforming, or a number of cycles for reception beam patterniteration.

Example 3 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 1or some other example herein, wherein the one or more computer-readablemedia further stores instructions for causing the UE to: perform a radioresource management (RRM) measurement based on the reception beamforminginformation.

Example 4 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 3or some other example herein, wherein the RRM measurement is based on areference signal, and wherein the reference signal is a synchronizationsignal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal(CSI-RS).

Example 5 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 4or some other example herein, wherein the RRM measurement is anintra-frequency measurement without radio frequency (RF) retuning, anintra-frequency measurement with RF retuning, or an inter-frequencymeasurement with RF retuning.

Example 6 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 1or some other example herein, wherein the RRC message further includesRF retuning information, the RF retuning information including anindicator that RF retuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuning isnot needed.

Example 7 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 1or some other example herein, wherein the RRC message further includesmeasurement gap information, the measurement gap information includingan indicator that a measurement gap is needed or an indicator that ameasurement gap is not needed.

Example 8 includes one or more computer-readable media storinginstructions, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause anext-generation nodeB (gNB) to: receive or cause to receive from a userequipment (UE), a radio resource control (RRC) message comprisingreception beamforming information associated with a radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurement, the reception beamforming informationincluding a number of reception beamforming patterns for performing aradio resource management (RRM) measurement; and determine, or cause todetermine, based on the reception beamforming information, measurementgap information for the UE for the RRM measurement.

Example 9 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 8or some other example herein, wherein the reception beamforminginformation further includes an indicator of whether receptionbeamforming is used by the UE, an indicator of whether reception beamswitching is used by the UE, a number of reception antenna panels forreception beamforming, or a number of cycles for reception beam patterniteration.

Example 10 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 8or some other example herein, wherein the RRC message further includesRF retuning information, the RF retuning information including anindicator that RF retuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuning isnot needed.

Example 11 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example 8or some other example herein, wherein the RRC message further includesmeasurement gap information, the measurement gap information includingan indicator that a measurement gap is needed or an indicator that ameasurement gap is not needed.

Example 12 includes an apparatus comprising: memory to store receptionbeamforming information, the reception beamforming information includinga number of reception beamforming patterns; and processing circuitry,coupled with the memory, to: generate a radio resource control (RRC)message including at least a portion of the reception beamforminginformation; and cause the RRC message to be transmitted to anext-generation NodeB (gNB) to determine measurement gap informationbased on the reception beamforming information.

Example 13 includes the apparatus of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the reception beamforming information further includesan indicator of whether reception beamforming is used, an indicator ofwhether reception beam switching is used, a number of reception antennapanels for reception beamforming, or a number of cycles for iteratingreception beam pattern.

Example 14 includes the apparatus of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: perform a radioresource management (RRM) measurement based on the reception beamforminginformation.

Example 15 includes the apparatus of example 14 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRM measurement is based on a reference signal, andwherein the reference signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB) ora channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Example 16 includes the apparatus of example 15 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRM measurement is an intra-frequency measurementwithout radio frequency (RF) retuning, an intra-frequency measurementwith RF retuning, or an inter-frequency measurement with RF retuning.

Example 17 includes the apparatus of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes RF retuninginformation, the RF retuning information including an indicator that RFretuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuning is not needed.

Example 18 includes the apparatus of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes measurement gapinformation, the measurement gap information including an indicator thata measurement gap is needed or an indicator that a measurement gap isnot needed.

Example 19 includes one or more computer-readable media storinginstructions, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause anext-generation Node-B (gNB) to: identify a set of new radio (NR)measurement resources; determine a plurality of carrier groups amongwhich to allocate the NR measurement resources, wherein the plurality ofcarrier groups includes: a high-performance group containing a firstportion of the NR measurement resources; a normal performance groupcontaining a second portion of the NR measurement resources; and areduced performance group containing a third portion of the NRmeasurement resources, wherein the normal performance group containsfewer measurement resources than the high-performance group, and thereduced performance group contains fewer NR measurement resources thanthe normal performance group; and generate a measurement configurationmessage for a user equipment (UE) based on the determined plurality ofcarrier groups.

Example 20 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example19 or some other example herein, wherein the one or morecomputer-readable media further stores instructions for causing the gNBto generate a measurement configuration message for a user equipment(UE) based on the determined plurality of carrier groups.

Example 21 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example19 or some other example herein, wherein the one or morecomputer-readable media further stores instructions for causing the gNBto transmit or cause to transmit the measurement configuration messageto the UE.

Example 22 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example19 or some other example herein, wherein the high-performance group isfor serving cell-related measurements by the UE.

Example 23 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example19 or some other example herein, wherein the plurality of carrier groupsare associated with a group of frequency layers or a group of cells.

Example 24 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example19 or some other example herein, wherein determining the plurality ofcarrier groups includes determining, for each respective carrier group,a respective measurement scaling factor associated with a respectivetime period to complete a measurement.

Example 25 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example24 or some other example herein, wherein the time period to complete ameasurement for the normal performance group is longer than the timeperiod to complete a measurement for the high-performance group, andwherein the time period to complete a measurement for the reducedperformance group is longer than the time period to complete ameasurement for the normal performance group.

Example 26 includes a method comprising: generating a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) message that includes reception beamforming information,the reception beamforming information including a number of receptionbeamforming patterns for performing a radio resource management (RRM)measurement; and transmitting or causing to transmit the RRC message toa next-generation nodeB (gNB).

Example 27 includes the method of example 26 or some other exampleherein, wherein the reception beamforming information further includesan indicator of whether reception beamforming is used by the UE, anindicator of whether reception beam switching is used by the UE, anumber of reception antenna panels for reception beamforming, or anumber of cycles for reception beam pattern iteration.

Example 28 includes the method of example 26 or some other exampleherein, wherein the method further includes: performing a radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurement based on the reception beamforminginformation.

Example 29 includes the method of example 28 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRM measurement is based on a reference signal, andwherein the reference signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB) ora channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Example 30 includes the method of example 29 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRM measurement is an intra-frequency measurementwithout radio frequency (RF) retuning, an intra-frequency measurementwith RF retuning, or an inter-frequency measurement with RF retuning.

Example 31 includes the method of example 26 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes RF retuninginformation, the RF retuning information including an indicator that RFretuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuning is not needed.

Example 32 includes the method of example 26 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes measurement gapinformation, the measurement gap information including an indicator thata measurement gap is needed or an indicator that a measurement gap isnot needed.

Example 33 includes a method comprising: receiving or causing to receivefrom a user equipment (UE), a radio resource control (RRC) messagecomprising reception beamforming information associated with a radioresource management (RRM) measurement, the reception beamforminginformation including a number of reception beamforming patterns forperforming a radio resource management (RRM) measurement; anddetermining, or causing to determine, based on the reception beamforminginformation, measurement gap information for the UE for the RRMmeasurement.

Example 34 includes the method of example 33 or some other exampleherein, wherein the reception beamforming information further includesan indicator of whether reception beamforming is used by the UE, anindicator of whether reception beam switching is used by the UE, anumber of reception antenna panels for reception beamforming, or anumber of cycles for reception beam pattern iteration.

Example 35 includes the method of example 33 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes RF retuninginformation, the RF retuning information including an indicator that RFretuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuning is not needed.

Example 36 includes the method of example 33 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes measurement gapinformation, the measurement gap information including an indicator thata measurement gap is needed or an indicator that a measurement gap isnot needed.

Example 37 includes a method comprising: storing reception beamforminginformation, the reception beamforming information including a number ofreception beamforming patterns; generating a radio resource control(RRC) message including at least a portion of the reception beamforminginformation; and causing the RRC message to be transmitted to anext-generation NodeB (gNB) to determine measurement gap informationbased on the reception beamforming information.

Example 38 includes the method of example 37 or some other exampleherein, wherein the reception beamforming information further includesan indicator of whether reception beamforming is used, an indicator ofwhether reception beam switching is used, a number of reception antennapanels for reception beamforming, or a number of cycles for iteratingreception beam pattern.

Example 39 includes the method of example 37 or some other exampleherein, further comprising: performing a radio resource management (RRM)measurement based on the reception beamforming information.

Example 40 includes the method of example 39 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRM measurement is based on a reference signal, andwherein the reference signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB) ora channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Example 41 includes the method of example 40 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRM measurement is an intra-frequency measurementwithout radio frequency (RF) retuning, an intra-frequency measurementwith RF retuning, or an inter-frequency measurement with RF retuning.

Example 42 includes the method of example 37 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes RF retuninginformation, the RF retuning information including an indicator that RFretuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuning is not needed.

Example 43 includes the method of example 37 or some other exampleherein, wherein the RRC message further includes measurement gapinformation, the measurement gap information including an indicator thata measurement gap is needed or an indicator that a measurement gap isnot needed.

Example 44 includes a method comprising: identifying a set of new radio(NR) measurement resources; determining a plurality of carrier groupsamong which to allocate the NR measurement resources, wherein theplurality of carrier groups includes: a high-performance groupcontaining a first portion of the NR measurement resources; a normalperformance group containing a second portion of the NR measurementresources; and a reduced performance group containing a third portion ofthe NR measurement resources, wherein the normal performance groupcontains fewer measurement resources than the high-performance group,and the reduced performance group contains fewer NR measurementresources than the normal performance group; and generating ameasurement configuration message for a user equipment (UE) based on thedetermined plurality of carrier groups.

Example 45 includes the method of example 44 or some other exampleherein, further comprising generating a measurement configurationmessage for a user equipment (UE) based on the determined plurality ofcarrier groups.

Example 46 includes the method of example 44 or some other exampleherein, wherein the method further comprises transmitting or causing totransmit the measurement configuration message to the UE.

Example 47 includes the method of example 44 or some other exampleherein, wherein the high-performance group is for serving cell-relatedmeasurements by the UE.

Example 48 includes the method of example 44 or some other exampleherein, wherein the plurality of carrier groups are associated with agroup of frequency layers or a group of cells.

Example 49 includes the method of example 44 or some other exampleherein, wherein determining the plurality of carrier groups includesdetermining, for each respective carrier group, a respective measurementscaling factor associated with a respective time period to complete ameasurement.

Example 50 includes the method of example 49 or some other exampleherein, wherein the time period to complete a measurement for the normalperformance group is longer than the time period to complete ameasurement for the high-performance group, and wherein the time periodto complete a measurement for the reduced performance group is longerthan the time period to complete a measurement for the normalperformance group.

Example 51 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples26-50, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 52 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 26-50, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 53 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 26-50, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 54 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 26-50, or portions or parts thereof

Example 55 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 26-50, or portions thereof

Example 56 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 57 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 58 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

The description herein of illustrated implementations, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. While specificimplementations and examples are described herein for illustrativepurposes, a variety of alternate or equivalent embodiments orimplementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be made inlight of the above detailed description, without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. One or more computer-readable media storinginstructions, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause auser equipment (UE) to: generate a radio resource control (RRC) messagethat includes reception beamforming information, the receptionbeamforming information including a number of reception beamformingpatterns for performing a radio resource management (RRM) measurement;and transmit or cause to transmit the RRC message to a next-generationnodeB (gNB).
 2. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1,wherein the reception beamforming information further includes anindicator of whether reception beamforming is used by the UE, anindicator of whether reception beam switching is used by the UE, anumber of reception antenna panels for reception beamforming, or anumber of cycles for reception beam pattern iteration.
 3. The one ormore computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the one or morecomputer-readable media further stores instructions for causing the UEto: perform a radio resource management (RRM) measurement based on thereception beamforming information.
 4. The one or more computer-readablemedia of claim 3, wherein the RRM measurement is based on a referencesignal, and wherein the reference signal is a synchronization signalblock (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). 5.The one or more computer-readable media of claim 4, wherein the RRMmeasurement is an intra-frequency measurement without radio frequency(RF) retuning, an intra-frequency measurement with RF retuning, or aninter-frequency measurement with RF retuning.
 6. The one or morecomputer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the RRC message furtherincludes RF retuning information, the RF retuning information includingan indicator that RF retuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuningis not needed.
 7. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1,wherein the RRC message further includes measurement gap information,the measurement gap information including an indicator that ameasurement gap is needed or an indicator that a measurement gap is notneeded.
 8. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions,that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a next-generationnodeB (gNB) to: receive or cause to receive from a user equipment (UE),a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising reception beamforminginformation associated with a radio resource management (RRM)measurement, the reception beamforming information including a number ofreception beamforming patterns for performing a radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurement; and determine, or cause to determine,based on the reception beamforming information, measurement gapinformation for the UE for the RRM measurement.
 9. The one or morecomputer-readable media of claim 8, wherein the reception beamforminginformation further includes an indicator of whether receptionbeamforming is used by the UE, an indicator of whether reception beamswitching is used by the UE, a number of reception antenna panels forreception beamforming, or a number of cycles for reception beam patterniteration.
 10. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 8,wherein the RRC message further includes RF retuning information, the RFretuning information including an indicator that RF retuning is neededor an indicator that RF retuning is not needed.
 11. The one or morecomputer-readable media of claim 8, wherein the RRC message furtherincludes measurement gap information, the measurement gap informationincluding an indicator that a measurement gap is needed or an indicatorthat a measurement gap is not needed.
 12. An apparatus comprising:memory to store reception beamforming information, the receptionbeamforming information including a number of reception beamformingpatterns; and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to:generate a radio resource control (RRC) message including at least aportion of the reception beamforming information; and cause the RRCmessage to be transmitted to a next-generation NodeB (gNB) to determinemeasurement gap information based on the reception beamforminginformation.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the receptionbeamforming information further includes an indicator of whetherreception beamforming is used, an indicator of whether reception beamswitching is used, a number of reception antenna panels for receptionbeamforming, or a number of cycles for reception beam pattern iteration.14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing circuitry isfurther to: perform a radio resource management (RRM) measurement basedon the reception beamforming information.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein the RRM measurement is based on a reference signal, and whereinthe reference signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB) or achannel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).
 16. The apparatusof claim 15, wherein the RRM measurement is an intra-frequencymeasurement without radio frequency (RF) retuning, an intra-frequencymeasurement with RF retuning, or an inter-frequency measurement with RFretuning.
 17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the RRC message furtherincludes RF retuning information, the RF retuning information includingan indicator that RF retuning is needed or an indicator that RF retuningis not needed.
 18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the RRC messagefurther includes measurement gap information, the measurement gapinformation including an indicator that a measurement gap is needed oran indicator that a measurement gap is not needed.
 19. One or morecomputer-readable media storing instructions, that, when executed by oneor more processors, cause a next-generation Node-B (gNB) to: identify aset of new radio (NR) measurement resources; determine a plurality ofcarrier groups among which to allocate the NR measurement resources,wherein the plurality of carrier groups includes: a high-performancegroup containing a first portion of the NR measurement resources; anormal performance group containing a second portion of the NRmeasurement resources; and a reduced performance group containing athird portion of the NR measurement resources, wherein the normalperformance group contains fewer measurement resources than thehigh-performance group, and the reduced performance group contains fewerNR measurement resources than the normal performance group; and generatea measurement configuration message for a user equipment (UE) based onthe determined plurality of carrier groups.
 20. The one or morecomputer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the one or morecomputer-readable media further stores instructions for causing the gNBto generate a measurement configuration message for a user equipment(UE) based on the determined plurality of carrier groups.
 21. The one ormore computer-readable media of claim 20, wherein the one or morecomputer-readable media further stores instructions for causing the gNBto transmit or cause to transmit the measurement configuration messageto the UE.
 22. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19,wherein the high-performance group is for serving cell-relatedmeasurements by the UE.
 23. The one or more computer-readable media ofclaim 19, wherein the plurality of carrier groups are associated with agroup of frequency layers or a group of cells.
 24. The one or morecomputer-readable media of claim 19, wherein determining the pluralityof carrier groups includes determining, for each respective carriergroup, a respective measurement scaling factor associated with arespective time period to complete a measurement.
 25. The one or morecomputer-readable media of claim 22, wherein the time period to completea measurement for the normal performance group is longer than the timeperiod to complete a measurement for the high-performance group, andwherein the time period to complete a measurement for the reducedperformance group is longer than the time period to complete ameasurement for the normal performance group.